Decorative plastics strips and motifs

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to decorative plastics strips and motifs suitable for securing by high frequency welding to a base surface. The decorative strip comprises an extruded plastics strip consisting of a central tape-like web portion along each side of which is a bead portion which projects above the front face of the web portion, each bead portion having a thin and narrow welding flange projecting outwardly from the back edge thereof in the plane of the web portion. A strip of material providing a desired decorative finish is bonded to the front face of the web portion. The decorative motif is in the form of a panel made by securing across each of the ends of a length of the twin-beaded strip, a piece of an auxiliary plastics strip material comprising a bead portion having the shape of one of the bead portions of the twin-beaded strip. The bead portions of the strips have a metallised finish or appearance.

United States Patent 1191 Kent 1111 3,711,360 1451 'Jan. 16; 1973 54 DECORATIVE PLASTICS STRIPS AND MOTIFS v [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Brooks ..l6l/145 X 3,051,600 8/1962 Markuset al., .....161/145 X 3,086,216 4/1963 'Brooks et al....' ..161/1l9 3,419,458 12/1968 Brooks et a1. ..l6l/121 2,471,576 5/1949 Matzner ..16l/1l8 12/1961 Bialy .3161/119 UX 3/1962 Brooks ct a1 161/145 X 3,458,386 7/1969 Shanok C1 211...; "161/413 X 3,471,355 10/1969 TrUCSdCll 81 a1 ..161/40 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 634,465 Great Britain 1 56/244 France ..l61/ll9 Primary ExainirierWilliam A. Powell Attorney-Lprson and Taylor [571 1 ABSTRACT This invention relates to decorative plastics strips and motifs suitable for securing by high frequency welding to a base surface. The decorative strip comprises an extruded plastics strip consisting of a central tape-like web portion along each side of which is a bead portion which projects above the front face of the web-portion, each bead portion having a thin and narrow welding flange projecting outwardly from the back edge thereof in the plane of the web portion. A strip of material providing, a desired decorative finish is bonded to the front face of the web portion. The decorative motif is in the form of a panel made by securing across 'each of the ends of a length of the twin-beaded strip, a piece of an auxiliary plastics strip material comprising a bead portion having the shape of one of the bead portions of the twin-beaded strip. The bead portions of the strips have a metallised finish or appearance. I

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures motif.

DECORATIVE PLASTICS STRIPS AND MOTIFS The present invention relates to a decorative plastics strip suitable for securing by high frequency welding to a base surface, and which, in conjunction with auxiliary strips, can be used to make decorative motifs in the form of panels which can he similarly'secured to a base surface by high frequency welding.

From one aspect, the present invention consists in a decorative plastics strip comprising an extruded plastics strip consisting of a central tape-like web portion along each side of which is a head portion which projects above the front face of said web portion, each bead portion having a thin and narrow welding flange portion projecting outwardly from the back edge thereof in the plane of said web portion, said extruded plastics strip having bonded to the front face of said web portion a strip of material providing a desired decorative finish to said web portion, such as a strip of plastic printed with a wood grain or other desired finish, and each of said bead portions having a metallized finish or appearance.

The metallized finish is preferably provided by bonding strips of metallized transparent plastics foil along the surfaces of the bead portions.

From another aspect, the invention consists in a decorative motif in the form of a panel which is made from the twin-beaded decorative plastics strip by securingacross each of the ends of a desired length thereof a piece of an auxiliary plastics strip material having the shape of one of said bead portions and provided with a metallized finish or appearance. The bead portions of portion thereof. The auxiliary strip pieces are con veniently secured to the ends of the piece of twineither or both of the facing surfaces of the flange and the web portion may have'grooves formed therein providing, spaces for accommodating the softened FIG. 6 is a section through a modification of the I twin headed strip of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a section through a modified form of auxiliary strip, and

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the pieces of twin-beaded and auxiliary strips of FIGS. 6 and 7 used for making a motif.

Referring to the drawings, the twin-beaded decorative plastic strip is shown in cross-section in FIG. I and comprises an extruded plastics strip 1, conveniently of polyvinyl chloride, consisting ofa central tape-like web portion 2 along each side of which is a head portion 3 which projects above the front face of the web portion. Projecting outwardly from the rear edge of each head portion is a narrow welding flange portion 4. Laminated to the front face of the web portion 1 is a decorative strip 5 which covers substantially the entire width of the web portion and which may be a strip of polyvinyl chloride printed or otherwise fabricated to simulate a wood grain or leathergrain finish. Bonded around the front of each bead portion is a metallized foil 6 conveniently comprising a strip of transparent plastics material, such as Mylar" (Registered Trade Mark), the rear face of which is metallized with alu minum, the metallized layer being bonded to a layer of polyvinyl chloride which can be readily heat bonded to the PVC strip 1. The foils 6 and strip 5 may be bonded to the extruded plastics strip 1 as it leaves the extruder and is still hot. The under surfaces of the foils 6 and strip 5 may be heat softened, for example by hot air jets, as they are applied against the plastics stripl and may be pressed thereagainst by rollers to achieve firm bonds between the parts. The hot air jets may also soften the surface of the extruded plastics stripv I.

Preferably longitudinal grooves 7 are formed along I welding flanges 4 to a base surface, such as the sheet plastics material as the flange is compressed during the welding operation.

The. invention further consists in the method of making decorative motifs-asabove described. In order that the invention may be more clearly un' derstood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a section through one embodiment of a twin-beaded decorative plastics strip according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section through an auxiliary strip with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view ofthe pieces of twin-beaded'and auxiliary strips used for making a for use- FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the finished motif. FIG. 5 is a scrap section on the line V-V in FIG. 4-.

plastic facing on the interior of a motor car door. The welding may be by high frequency, the welding tool being pressed down on to the flanges 4. The grooves 7 allow for lateral compression of the strip between the parallel welding electrodes and facilitate maintenance ofthe stripin the weldingtool. I

The decorative strip may also be used for making decorative motifs by securing against the ends of a desired length of the twin-beaded strip pieces of an I rear of the extrusion is formed with a groove and the front of the bead portion has a, metallized foil 66 bonded thereto in the same way as the metallized foil 6 is bonded to thebead portions of the strip 1. The motif is constructedby cutting off a desired length of the twin-beaded strip, and mitering the ends of the bead portions thereof as shown in FIGv 3. Pieces of the auxare mitered as shown in FIG. 3. The inwardly facing flanges 4a of these end pieces are positioned beneath bed may be used iliary strip 8 are cut to the desired length-and their ends l claim: 4

l. A decorative motif in the form ofa panel comprising a length of twin beaded decorativcstrip comprising an extruded plastics strip comprised of a central tapeelectrodes, in this case forming a rectangular frame,

bear on the upper surfaces of the welding flanges and press them against the base surface to which the motif isto be welded. The counter-electrode of the welding thereto may beprovided with grooves. Sacha modification is shown in FIGS. 68 in which like parts bear the same references as in the embodiment of FIGS. l to' 5. As shown in FIGS. 6-8, the rear face of the web portion 2 is extruded with a series of longitudinal grooves 9 and the flange 4a of the auxiliary strip 3a to be welded thereto isprovided along its uppersurface with grooves 10. These two sets of grooves provide spaces for accommodating the softened, plastics material as the flange 4a is compressed during the welding operation, thereby reducing the thickness of the flange material lying behindthe back of the web .2 and'improving the fixing of the motif to a flat backing surface.

The embodiment of FIGS. 6-8 also shows another modification for reducing or avoiding the occurrence of gaps between an auxiliary strip and the adjacent end truded with a longitudinal recess 11 of a height approx imately corresponding to the thickness of the web por- J of the web portion 2. To this end, the auxiliary strip 3a tion 2 of the strip l,"so that by 'mitering the end of the strip 1 so thatthe end of the web portion 2 projects slightly beyond the'inner endsof the miter, said projecting end of the web portion extends into the recess 11 of the auxiliary strip weldedtothat end of the strip 1, the extreme edge of the web portion 2 being covered by theoverlying metallized bead portion3a. In one embodiment the web portion 2 may be about 0.055 inch thick, the welding flanges 4, 4a may be about 0,025 inch thick-and the overall, height of the bead portions may be 0.157 inch. The grooves 7 may be V-shapcd grooves 0.078 inch deep and the grooves 9, if provided, may be right angled V-shaped grooves 0.020 inch deep. The width. of the web portion may vary as desired;

While particular embodiments have been described it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus the-beads maybe-formed with a shape different from that shown. The decorative strip 5 may alternatively comprise va natural wood veneer of which the rear surface may, if necessary, be coated'with PVC or otherplastic or adhesive to secure a firm bond to the web portion. The motif may be embossed or printed' with names orother'devices.

like web portion along each sideof which is a bead portion which projects above the front face of said web portion, each hcadportion having a thin and narrow welding flange portion projecting outwardly from the back edge thereof in the plane of said web portion, said extruded plastics strip having bonded to the front face of said web portion a strip of. material providing a desired decorative finish to said web portion,and each of said beadportions having a metallized appearance, said twin-beaded strip having secured across each of the ends thereof a piece of an auxiliary plastics strip comprising a head portion having the shape of one of said bead .portions of the twin-beaded strip, said bead portion having a metallized appearance, and thin and narrow flanges projecting outwardly in opposite I directions from both rear edges thereof, the bead portions of the twin-beaded strip being mitered to the bead portions of the pieces of auxiliary strip and the inwardly projecting flanges of each pieceof auxiliary strip is bonded to the back of the web portion of the twinbeadedstrip. v a

2. A decorative motif as claimed in claim 1, wherein eachend of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip projects slightly beyond the inner edges of the mitered bead portions and extends into a recess, of a height approximately corresponding to the thickness of the web portion,along the inwardly facing side of the bead portion of the associated piece of auxiliary strip.

v3.'A decorative motif as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inwardly projecting'flanges of the pieces of auxiliary strip used in making the motif are formed with grooves in the upper surfaces thereof.

4. A decorative motif as claimed in-claim 3, including a plurality of grooves along the rear of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip, a longitudinal groove along the rear of the twin-beaded strip directly behind each bead portion and extending thereinto; and strips of metallized transparent foil bonded along the surfaces of the bead portions of the twin-beaded and auxiliary strips; and wherein the strip of decorative material bonded to the front face of the web portion of the twinbeaded strip is of plastics material printed" with a desired finish and'covers substantially the entire width of theweb portion; and wherein each end of the web portion of v the twin-beaded strip projects slightly beyond the inner edges of themitered bead portions and extends into a recess, of a height approximately corresponding to the thickness of the web portion.

.from the back edge thereof in the plane of said web portion, said extruded plastics strip having bonded to the front face of said web portion a strip of material providing a desired decorative finish'to said web portion, and each of said bead portions having a metallized appearance, fabricating a strip of auxiliary plastics material comprising a bead portion having the shape of one of said head portions of the twin-headed strip, said bead portion having a metallized appearance, and thin and narrow flanges projecting outwardly in opposite directions from both rear edges of the bead portion, cutting off a desired length of the twin-beaded strip, mitering the ends of the bead portions thereof and cutting off the ends of the web portion between the mitered ends of the head portions, cutting pieces of the auxiliary strip and mitering their ends so as to fit between the mitered ends of the bead portions of the twin-beaded strip, and then positioning the pieces of auxiliary strip across the ends of the twin-beaded strip with their inwardly facing flanges beneath the ends of the web portion and bonding said flanges to the back of the web portion.

6 The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the twin-beaded and auxiliary strips are fabricated with grooves along the back of the web portion and the upper surface of the flange which is to project inwardly 

2. A decorative motif as claimed in claim 1, wherein each end of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip projects slightly beyond the inner edges of the mitered bead portions and extends into a recess, of a height approximately corresponding to the thickness of the web portion, along the inwardly facing side of the bead portion of the associated piece of auxiliary strip.
 3. A decorative motif as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inwardly projecting flanges of the pieces of auxiliary strip used in making the motif are formed with grooves in the upper surfaces thereof.
 4. A decorative motif as claimed in claim 3, including a plurality of grooves along the rear of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip; a longitudinal groove along the rear of the twin-beaded strip directly behind each bead portion and extending thereinto; and strips of metallized transparent foil bonded along the surfaces of the bead portions of the twin-beaded and auxiliary strips; and wherein the strip of decorative material bonded to the front face of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip is of plastics material printed with a desired finish and covers substantially the entire width of the web portion; and wherein each end of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip projects slightly beyond the inner edges of the mitered bead portions and extends into a recess, of a height approximately corresponding to the thickness of the web portion, along the inwardly facing side of the bead portion of the associated piece of auxiliary strip.
 5. The method of making a decorative motif in the form of a panel, comprising the steps of fabricating a twin-beaded decorative plastics strip comprised of a central tape-like web portion along each side of which is a bead portion which projects above the front face of said web portion, each bead portion having a thin and narrow welding flange portion projecting outwardly from the back edge thereof in the plane of said web portion, said extruded plastics strip having bonded to the front face of said web portion a strip of material providing a desired decorative finish to said web portion, and each of said bead portions having a metallized appearance, fabricating a strip of auxiliary plastics material comprising a bead portion having the shape of one of said bead portions of the twin-beaded strip, said bead portion having a metallized appearance, and thin and narrow flanges projecting outwardly in opposite directions from both rear edges of the bead portion, cutting off a desired length of the twin-beaded strip, mitering the ends of thE bead portions thereof and cutting off the ends of the web portion between the mitered ends of the bead portions, cutting pieces of the auxiliary strip and mitering their ends so as to fit between the mitered ends of the bead portions of the twin-beaded strip, and then positioning the pieces of auxiliary strip across the ends of the twin-beaded strip with their inwardly facing flanges beneath the ends of the web portion and bonding said flanges to the back of the web portion.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the twin-beaded and auxiliary strips are fabricated with grooves along the back of the web portion and the upper surface of the flange which is to project inwardly of the motif respectively, and the inwardly facing flanges of the pieces of auxiliary strip are welded to the back of the web portion of the twin-beaded strip under pressure to cause part of the softened plastics material to flow into the grooves as the flange is compressed during the welding operation. 